"It's almost Christmas," Daniel said with a smile as he stood by the window of the Muggle Studies classroom on the second floor, watching the excited young wizards leaving Hogwarts.
Near Christmas, the area outside Hogwarts was already covered in a blanket of snow. Just like in the Muggle world, Christmas was a very important holiday in the wizarding world. Now, most people had left Hogwarts, except for a few professors.
Daniel was one of those who stayed behind. He had initially planned to return to London to consult with Grindelwald on various spells, but since Grindelwald seemed to have left on some errand, Daniel found no reason to go back.
"Could they be spending Christmas together?" Daniel thought, recalling Dumbledore's departure and Grindelwald's disappearance, guessing where the two might have gone.
Only Harry and Ron stayed behind among the students. Hermione had gone home for Christmas, and it was easy to understand why Harry didn't want to go back to his uncle's house unless absolutely necessary. Ron's reason for staying was a bit more puzzling, but Daniel guessed it was to keep Harry company.
"I finally succeeded." Daniel sighed with relief, looking at the golden ring of light before him. With this, he was nearly invincible in this world. More importantly, being able to open a portal meant he could now practice Apparition and Disapparition.
In fact, these two spells could be considered as one. Apparition allowed you to leave your current position, while Disapparition let you appear at your desired location. Together, they completed spatial movement.
Apart from Disapparition, Daniel had also always wanted to learn the Undetectable Extension Charm. With this spell, he could create a suitcase like Newt's.
In the world of Harry Potter, magic seemed low-level, but in terms of space-time, it was quite advanced. The Time-Turner and the Undetectable Extension Charm were things that even Kamar-Taj could achieve, but to a similar extent required very advanced skills.
In Harry's world, however, achieving such feats only required the level of an advanced Auror.
"With the Undetectable Extension Charm, real estate companies would go bankrupt. Are you still worried about your cramped house? Do you envy those sprawling mansions? Are you anxious about high mortgages? Now, there's no need to worry. For just 998, Hogwarts wizards will solve all your problems."
A sudden advertising slogan popped into Daniel's head.
It wasn't just houses; items like space pouches didn't require strong wizards to create. Just look at Hermione's bag, which held a ton of stuff.
"If the wizarding world ever coexists peacefully with the Muggle world, maybe wizards specializing in expanding living spaces will actually appear."
Of course, the price then wouldn't be 998.
"Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows. These two kids are really wasting it." During Christmas, Daniel noticed Harry had received his Invisibility Cloak. The cloak's ability was incredibly powerful, but since it was used by two kids, Daniel could still spot them even when they were invisible.
With the Invisibility Cloak, the two kids toured all over Hogwarts during Christmas, even sneaking into the library. However, since neither had much interest in the books there, they left quickly.
Hogwarts' library contained a vast amount of magical knowledge, much of which wasn't included in the standard textbooks from first to seventh year.
Graduating from Hogwarts' seventh year was roughly equivalent to graduating from a university in the Muggle world, allowing further studies.
Comparing it to Muggle universities is apt because graduates typically step into society, unlike their Muggle peers.
Daniel was very interested in Harry's Invisibility Cloak, but with Dumbledore around, it wasn't easy to make a move on it unless he intended to grab it and run.
However, an Invisibility Cloak, even one of the Deathly Hallows, wasn't worth such drastic actions.
Invisibility Cloaks weren't particularly magical in the wizarding world. In fact, you could buy them in Diagon Alley, although those cloaks had limited durability, unlike Harry's, which provided permanent invisibility.
Moreover, there was a spell, the Disillusionment Charm, which also had invisibility effects.
The Deathly Hallows had a significant reputation, but the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak were mostly useless. The only truly useful one was the Elder Wand, which was in Dumbledore's possession. Unless Daniel wanted to fall out with Dumbledore and Grindelwald, he couldn't get that wand.
Furthermore, as long as the Elder Wand was with Dumbledore, no one else could take it unless he allowed it. The wand greatly amplified its user's magic.
Grindelwald had once relied on this wand to fight off dozens of Aurors single-handedly.
Harry Potter managed to hold his own against Voldemort in the final battle largely due to the Elder Wand's power.
"Apparition." Outside Hogwarts Castle, after flying there on a broomstick, Daniel began testing this spell. The castle had spells suppressing spatial movement, requiring specific locations to use Apparition within the castle.
At his current level, Daniel couldn't break through those restrictions, but those spells only suppressed Apparition, not Kamar-Taj's portal magic.
Kamar-Taj's portal magic was based on dimensional principles, making it much harder to restrict.
Apparition wasn't a particularly advanced spell in the wizarding world. Most students who graduated could perform it, differing mainly in distance.
Powerful wizards like Dumbledore could Apparate anywhere within England, while weaker ones might only move a few dozen meters.
In terms of distance, Kamar-Taj's portal magic outclassed Apparition. However, in terms of convenience, Apparition was superior since it didn't require a Sling Ring or even a wand.
"I should wait until after the holidays to go back." Being able to use Kamar-Taj's portal magic in the Harry Potter world didn't just give Daniel an escape skill; it meant he could return to the Marvel world.
Though he could avoid Marvel's troubles by staying in this world, it would be a waste for someone like Daniel, who could traverse dimensions, to remain in just one world.
His journey now aimed for the stars and the sea, across infinite universes.
After Christmas, students returned to school one after another. Hermione brought back quite a few gifts, including one for Daniel, to thank him for saving her in the bathroom earlier.
Although Hermione came from a Muggle family, her family was wealthier than Ron's. Dentists, regardless of the country, were never poor. As the saying goes, "toothache isn't a disease, but it hurts like hell," something Daniel had experienced himself. Without having had a toothache, one couldn't imagine the pain.
Of course, this referred to the Muggle world. In the wizarding world, a toothache was a trivial matter solved with a wave of a wand.
"Following Harry does pay off." Deep in the Forbidden Forest, watching Harry and Malfoy fleeing and the centaurs chasing Voldemort away, Daniel immediately Apparated to the unicorn's corpse to collect materials.
The Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts housed many magical creatures like centaurs, Acromantulas, Thestrals, and Hippogriffs. Some legends even said there were werewolves.
Before the wizarding world enacted magical creature protection laws, adventurers frequently entered the Forbidden Forest, hunting creatures like centaurs and unicorns. Unicorns, in particular, were heavily hunted for their valuable parts, especially their blood, which could extend life. However, drinking unicorn blood cursed the drinker.
Despite the curse, unicorn blood fetched high prices in the wizarding black market. If one's life was at risk, who would care about a curse?
Unicorn horns, hides, and hair were all rare magical materials. Due to heavy hunting, unicorns were nearly extinct, making unicorn hair wands scarce.
Daniel wasn't a fanatical animal protector, nor did he kill indiscriminately, so he wouldn't hunt unicorns. But he had no qualms about collecting materials from those killed by Voldemort.
If not for certain considerations, Daniel might have taken the entire unicorn corpse.
Watching Harry hurriedly leave Hagrid's hut, Daniel glanced at the dragon egg inside and left. Staying longer, he might have taken the egg to cook.
Unicorns, being pure creatures, couldn't be eaten, but dragons were different. He had never tasted dragon egg.
"Do you really think you're a savior?" At night, seeing Neville petrified by Hermione, Daniel shook his head slightly. The Muggle Studies class was progressing smoothly. Even Draco wasn't as opposed to Daniel anymore, and Daniel sometimes even gave Draco extra points.
But Harry was an exception. Daniel's relationship with Harry wasn't good.
This was partly because Daniel didn't treat Harry as a savior. After learning the truth about his parents' death, Harry was a bit sad but also a bit inflated. The admiration and flattery were things he never experienced with his aunt's family.
Harry saw his place in the wizarding world, not the Muggle world, making Muggle Studies the class he cared least about.
Partly, this was because Daniel gave Draco extra points. To Harry, anyone who favored Draco couldn't be good, like Snape.
In the fourth-floor forbidden corridor, Daniel followed the trio into the room guarded by the three-headed dog, which was asleep due to the harp's continuous music.
"Lumos." Before jumping into the basement, Daniel used this spell. Why all wizarding basements lacked stairs and required jumping was beyond him, including Newt's suitcase.
Thanks to the Lumos spell, Daniel avoided being attacked by the Devil's Snare, smoothly entering the basement.
"What a ridiculous design. Dumbledore must be too bored." Proceeding to the room where Harry rode a broomstick to catch a
key, Daniel couldn't help but feel exasperated. Unless something went wrong, Professor Quirrell had already entered. These traps should have been disabled. This wasn't a game where traps reset automatically unless Dumbledore was following.
But even if Dumbledore was following, it didn't matter to Daniel, or he wouldn't have come.
"Professor Quirrell, what are you doing here?" With Ron and Hermione's help, Harry reached the inner chamber. Expecting Snape, he found the amiable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor instead, lowering his guard completely.
"You two are quite bold." Daniel appeared behind Hermione, who was trying to pull the trapped Ron out, and used a Levitation Charm to move the rubble off Ron. He sternly said, "Harry is inside."
"I know. You two stay here and rest. I'll check."
"Expelliarmus." Entering the inner chamber, Daniel saw Harry being knocked back by Professor Quirrell's wand. Without hesitation, Daniel cast his spell.
The red light from his wand disarmed Quirrell.
"Accio wand." While Quirrell was in shock, Daniel summoned his wand with another spell, quickly disarming him.
"What's going on?" Daniel finally asked.
"He's a servant of the Dark Lord," Harry, whose body was stronger than ordinary people, stood up after being thrown against the wall and shouted.
"You deserve to die." At that moment, the head on the back of Quirrell's head turned around. It was amazing Quirrell was still alive despite this 180-degree turn.
Voldemort, who had turned around, lunged at Daniel.
"Protego."
"Incendio."
A transparent barrier blocked Voldemort's lunge, followed by a burst of flames where he stood. Quirrell and Voldemort struggled in the fire.
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